Paying for storage is one of those adult issues for which one is never quite prepared, if only financially. Amidst a pandemic, new complications have invariably arisen for both people looking to store their goods and people trying to make use of newly empty space. Fortunately, there’s a solution to connect the two: Neighbor.
Neighbor, a startup that launched back in 2017, has been touted by some as the “Airbnb of self-storage”—a fitting title for the service—and it stands to bridge the gap between the aforementioned storage-bound demographics. Neighbor’s function is simple: People who have space, be it a garage stall or a whole floor of offices, list it; anyone who needs to keep their stuff somewhere else can then pay a monthly fee to do so in listed spaces through Neighbor.
Insurance for both the owner of the space and the renter is also included at no additional charge to either party, and Neighbor allows other terms (e.g., access rules, hours of operation, etc.) to be negotiated through their app. This makes it a convenient, relatively low-risk service for the times—no need to maneuver around a face-to-face meeting or exchange cash that has been God knows where.
It should be noted that Neighbor isn’t just for “standard” storage spaces like garages and sheds. Spare rooms, attic space, driveways, and pretty much anything else that can house goods stand to be listed—it’s at the renter’s discretion to determine whether or not your listing is sufficient for their needs. This means that anyone from new empty-nesters to actual Airbnb hosts who find themselves devoid of business is free to move their space onto Neighbor.
While Neighbor isn’t new, their services offer a strange, rare relief during the present day. With huge chunks of buildings almost entirely devoid of use in the wake of COVID-19, businesses large and small alike are poised to lose unfathomable amounts of money.
It may not be sexy, but using that space as storage through Neighbor might be the solution businesses need to stay afloat—and, with an increase in downsizing and moving, renters may come flooding in.
Jack Lloyd has a BA in Creative Writing from Forest Grove's Pacific University; he spends his writing days using his degree to pursue semicolons, freelance writing and editing, oxford commas, and enough coffee to kill a bear. His infatuation with rain is matched only by his dry sense of humor.
